Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3368 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where today is a Hallmark Holiday, which originated to the South of us, to honour Mothers.
For me, and I stress for me,© unless I was having a very bad day, Dada still very quirky – seven anagrams (three partials), no lurkers, and no homophones, all in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3368 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31233
Hints and Tips by Senf
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where it is still cool, in fact cool enough for occasional fluffy white precipitation but it is melting on contact with the ground.
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Bandit on duty for their third(?) Toughie, but no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity and there is not an error in my Difficulty rating. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of exactly 5 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Continue reading “DT 31233”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3367 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, even though we are now in May, Spring continues to be decidedly cool, in temperature terms that is.
Meanwhile, courtesy of the Winnipeg Library, I have become the temporary owner of Iona Whishaw’s A False and Fatal Claim, her thirteenth novel, not counting the novella prequel, describing the ‘escapades’ of her heroine, former SOE operative Lane Winslow, and long-suffering husband, Police Inspector Frederick Darling, in the town of Nelson, and its environs, in the interior of British Columbia in the late 1940s. Highly recommended!
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada back to (very) quirky – seven anagrams (one partial), one lurker (reversed), and one homophone, all in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3367 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3366 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg; apologies, after a long and busy day yesterday, I was too cream crackered to be able to create an erudite preamble.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada back to quite friendly – six anagrams (two partials), no lurkers, and no homophones, all in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3366 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31221
Hints and Tips by Senf
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty 2.5* – Enjoyment 4.5*
For those who honour it, a very good St George’s Day from Winnipeg where Spring may finally have sprung with rain as the only precipitation in the 14 day weather forecast!
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), if this were a Dada on Sunday I might be using the term quirky, once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Dharma on Toughie duty today, but no doubt that this is the work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart, but no second ‘sweetheart’ this week, appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.25 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Continue reading “DT 31221”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3365 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, on Friday, fortified coffee was required after going to the supermarket partly because of the weather, rain/freezing rain/ice pellets/snow, over the preceding 12 hours and partly because of the bill!
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada more brain mangling than NYDK was yesterday – two long ‘uns, six anagrams (four partials), one lurker, one homophone, some cross-referencing, and one palindrome all in a symmetric 28 clues with some interesting anagram indicators (just for TDS); with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
So Terence, what did go wrong at Stamford Bridge yesterday afternoon?
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3365 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3364 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where yesterday we enjoyed a double digit (positive) temperature, for the first time since 23rd November of last year, of plus 11 degrees (plenty of double digit (negative) temperatures in the meantime).
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quirkily friendly again – four longish ‘uns (only one an anagram), five anagrams (two partials), two lurkers (one reversed), and no homophones in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3364 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31209
Hints and Tips by Senf
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, yesterday, on the 19th day of Spring we woke up to fluffy white precipitation courtesy of an Alberta Clipper! Fortunately, in my area, there was only 5 to 10 cms and the roads and footpaths are already warm enough that it ‘self cleared.’
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), a puzzle of two halves, North and South, but once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Prime on Toughie duty today, but no doubt that this is the work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart, don’t be confused by the second ‘sweetheart’ in 1d (check the hint), appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.2 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Continue reading “DT 31209”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3363 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Easter Sunday morning from Winnipeg where I have been pondering on the origins of the Easter Bunny. I sort of assumed that it was a Hallmark Thing conjured up by my Southern neighbours but, apparently, that is not the case. That unimpeachable source Wikipedia suggests that the Easter Bunny is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter originating among German Lutherans as early as the late 16th Century! Decorated Easter Eggs, not made of chocolate, go back even further.
For me, and I stress for me,© I might have been having an off day but somewhat reminiscent of ST 2978 on November 18th, 2018 – four long ‘uns (only one an anagram), five anagrams (one partial), two lurkers (one reversed), and one homophone in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3363 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3362 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where on Friday morning, I was thinking, a dangerous activity at any time, that a fortified coffee after my weekly expedition to the supermarket might not be required on the day or for a number of months. That was until I found out that it was minus 11 degrees, feels like minus 20! Perhaps the fortified coffee won’t be required this week!
Question of the day for UK residents, were you awake at 1:00am GMT this morning to advance your various timepieces, except for the ‘clever’ ones that are programmed to do it automatically, to 2:00am BST?
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quirkily friendly – two long ‘uns (one an anagram and one not), nine anagrams (five partials, three of them only three letters!), two lurkers, and no homophones in an almost symmetric 30 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3362 (Hints)”
